4 out of 5

I wonder how we can get Aaron to just write his marvel books as one shots?  By and large, the more self contained stories in his non-indie oeuvre have proven solid, and are sort of a trick that can wrap you in for the ongoing hijinx, which, by my reading, vary between average and shrug-worthy.  But the standalones tend to show off some character work and nuance that gets lost in the remainder.

This single issue does more for establishing a unique Aaron tone for Doctor Strange and establishing the functioning of the magic-pilfered world much more than the issues surrounding it.  It’s humorously at odd with the “the world has irrevocably changed!” summary blurb, as it shows the post Empirikul (last arc’s baddies) world is one with minimal but regrowing magic, not one bereft of, and this feels… more believable in the context of fiction, and also, with walking-the-beat Stephen bearing an enchanted barbed-wire-wrapped bat to knock at magic parasites fluttering around, makes the nature of that world incredibly clear, without over-expositing or dramafying the whole shebang.  Same goes for a trench-coated Strange, drawn with precise humbleness by Leonardo Romero in the present and (sans trench coat) a nice mix of desperation and determination by Kevin Nowlan in the past for some narratively relevant – narrative relevance, another plus in the one-shots! – flashbacks; other issues have Steve whining about his lost powers, but here we can just “see” the effects and feel it through the actions of the story and the casual dialogue, and that’s much more effective.

I imagine a series of this, little episodic snippets of re-learning magic from the ground up, and I’m pleased as punch.  Alas, it’s back to business next issue.

Minus a star for being by the series writer and yet feeling wholly separate from the other issues in the same series… but had this been the kickoff of something, I would’ve been on board.